But the SFMTA wants more more more, so it’s hatched a plan called Prop A, to raise your rent (literally) and/or take your propertah taxes to pay for, among other things, cost overruns on the entirely unnecessary pork-barrel project called the Central Subway.

“During a pair of recent presentations at city political clubs, MTA commissioner Cheryl Brinkman, arguing on behalf of Prop. A, stated that a City Attorney’s opinion concluded that, when it comes to bond language, the terms “shall” and “may” are identical.

Huh.

Brinkman now says she’s not entirely sure what she said. Multiple witnesses are more certain: ‘She did say that!’ recalls Potrero Hill Democrats president Joni Eisen.”

So, what’s going on inside Cheryl Brinkman’s head when she says stuff like this? Is it a fugue state? Is it simple lying? Or maybe somebody lied to her? Or she’s under so much pressure to keep her “job,” but what does it pay, like $100 a month and a free FastPass? And she voted FOR charging people at parking meters on Sundays only to change her mind the next year when she voted AGAINST? Oh, so the SFMTA could instead get VLF money from taxpayers, except that plan got shelved right after she voted.

If she were fired from the SFMTA and then replaced with a spineless jellyfish, how would anyone notice, how would anyone be able to tell the diff?

Look at these poor lost souls on Geary staring towards the west in a futile attempt to spot the next inbound #38 Geary.

You can tell when things get bad at a MUNI stop when people just plop themselves down out on the street on the stop itself.

Is Geary a “livable street?” I have no idea. And actually, it doesn’t matter if this is how the SFMTA does its primary function. Should SFMTA directors be boasting about their junkets to “other cities across the globe?” I don’t think so. Hey, it’s headshot day! Hold it, hold it, hold it, say “cheese!” Snap.

Would SF be better off without the relatively inconsequential “Sunday Streets” program if it could get a functional MUNI in exchange?

SFMTA director Cheryl Brinkman said that she supported the proposal because she has been considering the reverse situation. “How would we defend making parking free on Sundays if we’ve been paying all these years?” she asked rhetorically.

OK fine, but then in 2014 she voted to make parking free on Sundays. Oh well.

In any event, the Directors of the SFMTA don’t seem to be concerned at all about making MUNI work better using the money we already give them. The SFMTA doesn’t need more money, the SFMTA needs to manage the money we give it more better. IMO.

[UPDATE: A fire truck just hit a pedestrian. Let’s now investigate whether the driver was driving as if he or she has “no family” that loves him or her and no one that he or she loves. And, oh yes, let’s also investigate whether the pedestrian was walking as if he has “no family” that loves him and no one that he loves. And let’s get more fire trucks out there, driven by aging women, ideally. You know, to set an example.]

“Cyclists violating the pedestrian right of way is what I hear about most often in response to any discussion about adding cycling infrastructure.”

Uh maybe you’re listening to the wrong people? Adding cycling infrastructure comes at the expense of something, right? What you need to focus on is the Commonweal, not individuals or pressure groups.

It is such a tough issue; are cyclists being held to a higher standard then car drivers, or is it the nature of the violations that catch people’s attention?

What planet do you live on? In what way, shape, or form are cyclists ever held to a higher standard “then” car drivers in San Francisco? Your question is absurd if you’re talking about San Francisco County, which, you know, should be your focus, right? And the “nature of this particular violation” is that the pedestrian died. It “caught attention” because the pedestrian died. It got covered as if it were a car vs. ped death – check it.

It’s not hard for a cyclist to stop at a crosswalk, and cyclists should treat pedestrians the way they wish car drivers would treat them, but the answer is not to wish for fewer cyclists, or to deny bike improvements.

Who is wishing for fewer cyclists? Who is denying bike improvements? Isn’t your job fundamentally about the allocation of scarce resources? I think it is.

I think the answer is to add more cyclists, particularly females in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.

Uhhhhhhhhh….

The more women of a certain age we have out there the more we take the macho out of cycling.

There’s “macho” in cycling? Really?

We change it from the few and the brave, to an everyday mainstream activity.

Cycling isn’t an everyday mainstream activity right now?

As Gil Penalosa said, some of the men out there on bikes ride as if they have no family that loves them and no one that they love.

Let’s see here, how would test this hypothesis? Control Group A would be made up of dudes with families and proven results from LoveMeter testing. And then Control Group B would be made up of, I don’t know, orphans or something? And then we’d follow them around, looking for violations.

If you’ve ever been in a country with a recent surge in automobile ownership you see similar behavior. The first drivers and owners tend to be men and they tend to drive like aggressive idiots.

Extensively traveled have we? Teach us oh Great Teacher of the fucking pathetic SFMTA, the worst-run agency in town, the people who bring us MUNI. Hellooooo? Are you in graduate school? Are you writing for IndyBay?

We have created a culture of road warriors on bikes due to our lack of infrastructure and I think they only way to tame it is to add more bikes and more infrastructure.

You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. How did you get your position?

That ill-behaved cyclist will not be able to violate the pedestrian right of way when he is stuck behind 20 or 30 other cyclists at the light.

So, you want a 30-fold increase in cycling on the morning drive? So let’s think here – anytime somebody dies, it presents an opportunity for you to ride your hobby horse, is that how things work?

And he will learn that he is part of the mainstream and there is nothing macho about riding a bike in this city.

Who said there’s something macho about riding a bike in San Francisco?

I don’t know, somehow, Cheryl Brinkman, your screed got typed up and broadcast on the web.

Whatever goals you have in life, this kind of thing isn’t helping you.

Would Whistler’s Mother have “qualified” to spend $75 to become a “member” of the “exclusive” Yahoo-Groupsish Golden Gate Mothers Group? Sadly no, as she was one of those “older mothers.” Check out the membership criteria, below.

What are the criteria for membership?
You must be a woman who lives in San Francisco and is expecting a child or has at least one child younger than 5 years old. Our organization is intended solely to support mothers and to explore the issues that arise in motherhood.

What does it cost and how is the money spent?
Both our initial and renewal fees are $75 for membership for one year. This covers the administrative and operating expenses of our group including various programs such as educational events, kids activities, social events, Just For Moms events, playgroups, newsletter and more. Any credit card charges made to GGMG will be listed on your statement as “BigTent”.

Can I pay by check?
Our primary method of collecting membership fees is through BigTent. Because our approval process and newsletter distribution relies heavily on BigTent, we are not able to process any membership fees through paper check. Alternatively, membership fees can be collected though the gift membership process. Information can be found at www.ggmg.org/giftmembership.html.

(Well, you read that and you think isn’t Cheryl Brinkman another one of those Gavin Newsom lackeys /appointees? And isn’t the board of the SFMTA part of the problem itself? And isn’t the residential parking permit system a stupid, NIMBYish idea as well? That’s what you might think.)

Anyway, let’s say you want a parking permit now, without jumping through hoops. You and your baby need the 411 on “going around the system” like right now, baby. Well here it is, right here.

What’s that? “Object not found.” Somebody must have took down the adviceful webpage. How wude!

Oh, wait a second, here’s something they had up a few days back:

Click to expand

Couldn’t locate all the techniques the mommies discussed, but enjoy a sampler:

“I was able to get one by first talking with our pediatrician about whether he’d be willing to sign an affidavit that our nannies would be providing “medical care”. Since our healthy 3 month old son wouldn’t be able to survive on his own without care, I think that the doctor justified it in his own mind and said that he’d be willing to sign it. (You have to get a permit for a specific car, so you can’t just have an extra permit.)”

“We just had our pediatrician sign the medical caregiver form and were able to get a parking permit for our nanny with no questions asked.”

“We went through this same exact problem when we lived in the city a year ago. So what I ended up doing was this, when we it came time to renew our parking permits, we did and it came in the mail and using Windex* or 409 ( I can’t remember which) we sprayed it on the permit and wiped away the black marker with our license plate number and wrote in our nannies. It worked out perfectly. I drove to work so I didn’t need a permit during the day. There was a period of 6 weeks that I didn’t know what I was going to do, so I got her a temporary permit ( you can get them for 6 or 8 weeks or something like that) I think it’s a visitors permit. You have to go into the parking office but it worked out fine. Obviously wiping the number off the permit isn’t on the up and up, but we didn’t feel we had any other choice.”

And oh! I have another one. Help your nanny by getting your doctor to sign off on a DMV handicapped placard application! (Doctors will do this for you because there’s no downside for them – you see, no physician has ever been disciplined in the slightest for improperly authorizing a DMV handicapped placard during the entire history of the state of California. That’s why getting a placard is a can of corn. Anyway, if I were a nanny, I’d appreciate a blue placard more than some stupid parking sticker that only works in certain areas…)

The moderation on this group is horrible. If you try to ask what exactly the 75.00 is used for, your account gets shut down and suspended.

So let’s see $75.00 x 4000 members, plus all the advertising revenue 80K, where does all that money go? That’s a half a million dollars people have paid to have the privildge to post questions about a babies but rash?

No thanks, there are many other mothers groups out there. Bernal Heights parents group, Mission moms, Glen park, all on Yahoo for free.”

*Hey, where’s the Windex, Honey? I don’t know, ask the nanny. What, where the Hell is she – is she circling the block again? That’s it, we’re moving to Marin…”